Biblioracle: Lincoln Michel's new novel ‘Metallic Realms' is more than fun — reading it was an absolute blast

Chicago Tribune

3 days ago

I am a big fan of reading, but even as big a fan as I am, I rarely think of a particular book as 'fun.'
Reading a great novel can be 'compelling,' or 'moving,' or 'haunting,' or 'penetrating.' We tend to think of 'fun' as attached to other kinds of activities like a day at the amusement park, a nice hike in the woods, or jumping out of an airplane. (Scratch that last one.)
I'm here to testify that Lincoln Michel's new novel 'Metallic Realms,' is more than fun; reading it was an absolute blast.
The narrator of Lincoln Michel's 'Metallic Realms' is Michael Lincoln, a broke, socially awkward New York apartment dweller who believes his roommate, Taras K. Castle and Castle's science fiction writing collective, the Orb 4, have produced one of the greatest works in science fiction history, 'The Star Rot Chronicles,' a series of stories set in The Metallic Realms.
Thus begins Lincoln Michel's nested stories, which results in a kind of homage to Vladimir Nabokov's 'Pale Fire' infused with strange science fiction tales that sometimes read like Douglas Adams ('The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy') if he'd lacked any self-awareness.
On the page, Michael is sort of desperate, an obvious poseur who is eager to make himself part of this group that he sees as so special. In less careful hands, our narrator would just seem pathetic, but he is also charming (in his way), and a compelling storyteller. Lincoln Michel infuses every moment of 'Metallic Realms' with a post-modern irony, but this irony comes out the other side as a form of sincerity. Whatever is being lampooned is done genuinely out of love, coming from both Lincoln Michel and Michel Lincoln.
While the novel is framed as Michael's account of the exploits of the Orb 4, it becomes clear that he intends to tell his story, and his choice to do it in this manner is rather touching. He doesn't think he's worthy of a story, and yet he can't help but share his. Who among us couldn't be plagued by such insecurities?
The other story is the actual Star Rot Chronicles, with full installments roughly alternating with Michael's biographical and analytical coverage of the work of the Orb 4.
How to describe the stories?
They read like stories written by eager, not especially talented goofs who've read and watched a lot of science fiction. They are somehow kind of terrible — if we judged them as part of the science fiction canon – but also great in that they are entertaining to read on their own in their kind-of-terribleness, as well as in their role as part of the text that will be analyzed by Michael as the full story of the fate of the Orb 4 is unfurled in both threads of the story.
I was rather quickly won over by the balance the novel strikes between the silly and the serious, the ironic and the sincere. It's fun, but not frivolous and I'm not even a huge science fiction reader. I bet there are all kinds of extratextual references a deeper fan would appreciate even more.
In his newsletter, Lincoln Michel wrote of how, essentially, he tried to talk himself out of writing a book this odd, that it was not the kind of thing you see in publishing.
Exactly! This is what is so great about the novel. Here we have an author who is 100% committed to mapping the territory of his own interests and idiosyncrasies. It is a novel only one person could write.
I hope lots of people give reading it a shot.
John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at biblioracle.com.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read.
1. 'Chulie, the Vampdog' by Suzy Jackson
2. 'The Loop Files' by Rick Kaempfer
3. 'The Harder I Fight The More I Love You: A Memoir' by Neko Case
4. '1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left' by Robyn Hitchcock
5. 'Open Season' by C.J. BoxFor Ted, I'm recommending the delightfully odd memoir in essays from J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf, 'Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters and Goddesses.'
1. 'James' by Percival Everett
2. 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt
3. 'The Every' by Dave Eggers
4. 'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi
5. 'Black Swan Green' by David MitchellAny solid, literary fiction with a nice intersection between plot and character will be a hit for Lionel: 'The Caretaker' by Ron Rash.
1. 'The Passenger Seat' by Vijay Khurana
2. 'Flesh' by David Szalay
3. 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus
4. 'White Noise' Don DeLillo
5. 'Libra' by Don DeLilloMark is in an 'existential struggle for men' kind of mood. I'm going to lean in while also lightening up a little, 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' by John Irving.
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Send a list of the last five books you've read and your hometown to [e-mail].